Teradata, a data warehousing and business analytics company, closed 2010 by announcing its impending purchase of Aprimo, a cloud-based integrated marketing software, for approximately $525 million.

Both companies plan to deliver more powerful business analytics with integrated marketing solutions, allowing corporations to improve and optimize marketing performance with data-driven insights. Teradata also plans to use Aprimo’s cloud and software-as-a-service (SaaS) functionality.

Teradata hopes thast this acquisition will enable it to:

Accelerate time to market for revenue-generating campaigns, product launches, and strategic brand initiatives;

Optimize and deliver successful campaigns seamlessly across all digital channels; and

Streamline operations to drive more effective marketing.

Teradata also gains Aprimo’s on-demand software solutions, giving customers the choice of accessing the applications in the cloud or within their data centers based on their operational needs and preferences.

Aprimo will be integrated into Teradata’s operations and will continue to market its products and services under the name Aprimo. Aprimo will support the strategy of Teradata’s analytics and applications business, including development, marketing, sales, and services once the acquisition is finalized.

Phil Fernandez, CEO of Marketo, spoke of this acquisition on the Marketo blog as an indicator of change in the marketing automation market. “Aprimo has been around for a long time, and has been successful primarily in providing what has become known as ‘marketing resource management’ applications,” he says. “However, they—and the entire marketing automaton category—were somewhat sleepy until the past few years… Even as recently as 2007, there were naysayers who told us that marketing automation was a dead category that nobody needed.”

Fernandez identified revenue performance management as a new discipline within marketing that pays greater attention to revenue. “…I believe that this new, more revenue-facing and strategic focus is at the core of what’s driving heightened interest and momentum in marketing automation platforms of all sizes, including Aprimo,” he explains.

The transaction is expected to be completed within the next three months.